Parler, a social networking service that advocated free speech before it was deplatformed has sued Amazon.com on Monday, accusing its Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosting service of violating antitrust law by suspending Parler’s account.
Parler are thought to have sued Amazon, rather than Apple and Google, as “both the apps and the website are written to work with AWS’s technology,” the lawsuit reads. “Without AWS, Parler is finished as it has no way to get online” without major code rewrites.
In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Parler said Amazon’s decision to effectively shutter its account was “apparently motivated by political animus” and “apparently designed to reduce competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter.”
Parler is seeking a court order requiring Amazon to reinstate its account, and blocking it from suspending services it had contracted for. It is also seeking unspecified triple damages.
Google and Apple had already removed Parler from their app stores towards the end of last week saying it had failed to comply with their content-moderation requirements.
Parler has been online since 2018, and may return if it can find an alternative host.
However, chief executive John Matze told Fox News on Sunday that “every vendor from text message services to email providers to our lawyers all ditched us too”.
“We’re going to try our best to get back online as quickly as possible, but we’re having a lot of trouble because every vendor we talk to says they won’t work with us because if Apple doesn’t approve and Google doesn’t approve, they won’t,” he added.
Parler’s users included the Republican Senator Ted Cruz… He had about five million followers on the platform – more than his tally on Twitter. “Why should a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires have a monopoly on political speech?” he tweeted over the weekend.
Amazon said it couldn’t provide services to “a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence.”
However, “Friday night one of the top trending tweets on Twitter was ‘Hang Mike Pence,’” Parler said in its complaint, yet AWS “has no plans nor has it made any threats to suspend Twitter’s account. AWS’s decision to effectively terminate Parler’s account is apparently motivated by political animus. It is also apparently designed to reduce competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter.”
The case is Parler LLC v Amazon Web Services Inc., 21-cv-31, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington.
Parler then went offline shortly after 3am EST Monday after Amazon booted the platform off its web hosting service, effectively shutting the site down until it can find a new hosting partner or fund its own servers.
CEO John Matze said he was doing more than Facebook and Twitter to try and remove violent content from his app. In a statement Monday morning self declared libertarian Matze said: ‘Evaluated objectively, our system worked as well or better than the methods used by our competitors, while adhering to our principles.’
Matze argued ‘up until Friday afternoon it seemed Apple, Amazon and Google agreed’ the app had been effective in their efforts to remove ‘objectionable content’, adding: ‘You can expect the war on competition and free speech to continue, but don’t count us out.’
Matze had initially said that Parler might be unavailable for ‘up to a week as we rebuild from scratch’, but now says it might be offline for longer. Google and Apple both booted Trump friendly Gab from their app stores in 2017 and it was left internet-homeless for a time. It now hosts through its own servers.
Critics have continued to slammed the big tech giants for purging free speech in the wake of Donald Trump’s Twitter ban.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple on Saturday removed the Parler app from the App Store. Parler, which bills itself as “the world’s town square” where users can “speak freely and openly,” was removed because Apple said the alternative to Twitter was fostering “direct threats of violence and calls to incite lawless action.”
Apple’s App Review Board wrote to the developers of Parler, in part:
Parler logoWe have determined that the measures you describe are inadequate to address the proliferation of dangerous and objectionable content on your app.
Parler has not upheld its commitment to moderate and remove harmful or dangerous content encouraging violence and illegal activity, and is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines… Specifically, we have continued to find direct threats of violence and calls to incite lawless action in violation of Guideline 1.1 – Safety – Objectionable Content…
While there is no perfect system to prevent all dangerous or hateful user content, apps are required to have robust content moderation plans in place to proactively and effectively address these issues.
For these reasons, your app will be removed from the App Store until we receive an update that is compliant with the App Store Review Guidelines and you have demonstrated your ability to effectively moderate and filter the dangerous and harmful content on your service.
Apple’s reasoning for pulling Parler is fine, if applied uniformly.
Yet, Twitter, Facebook, etc. remain available on Apple’s App Store.
Anyone who claims that Twitter and/or Facebook have robust content moderation in place that effectively removes harmful or dangerous content that encourages violence and illegal activity is either ignorant or lying.
So, which is it, Apple?
• A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill. ― Robert A. Heinlein
• Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers… – Apple, Think Different™ campaign, 1997
Apple remove the app because it was supposedly used to organize violence. Besides the fact that it BS, Apple should stop selling the iPhone because it was used to access the app
Mike Ferguson (subbing in for Marc Cox): Okay, this is going to be an interesting conversation here — it’s 8:36, by the way, I’m Mike Ferguson. William was there, just like Marc was there, but Marc was about, he said, what? 75 yards back from the Capitol with the crowds; that’s about as close as he got. So, he could see, you know, the tear gas, and he could hear commotion — he heard some flashbangs, he was telling us. William, who joins us now, he was way up front on this. And, Tricia, you talked to William earlier; this will be my first time chatting with him, so you vetted he is who he says he is; he talked to Marc out there, so, William, appreciate the call here. And when I say you were up front, you were like way up front when the protest/scuffles were happening. How close is “up front”? Just define that for us. And did you actually go into the Capitol building?
William: Good morning, guys, can you hear me okay? Okay. First of all, I want to start out by saying no, I did not go inside the Capitol. I would not go inside the Capitol. I am a patriot — we went to Washington D.C. to support our president; we did not go to storm the Capitol. I left Trump’s speech, in the middle of his speech, because my wife got cold. We had been there all day, and she was freezing, and she said, “Sweetheart, you’re going to kill me, but we have to start walking; I’ve gotta get some blood pumping.” And, so, begrudgingly, we left early. And so we got to the Capitol in enough time — God’s timing is perfect — I saw how this entire thing started, and that’s why I’m here, because I want the people to hear what the media’s not telling you.
Mike Ferguson: Okay. Which part of the Capitol were you around? Because we know there was people basically all around the Capitol building.
William: So, if you saw video or pictures of the Capitol building, there was a white, U.S. Government SUV parked maybe near the base of the steps. Initially, I made it to that vehicle, and there was maybe a couple hundred people there.
Mike Ferguson: Okay, and so when you say you want people to know how it started and what happened, what did you see? And how far were you from it?
William: Okay, so this is not conjecture. I will start out by telling you that I was close enough to touch the Capitol wall. I was 5 feet from one of the outside infiltrators that was trying to put a pipebomb inside the water system of the Capitol. Here’s what I will tell you, what I saw and what the people need to know. Yes, Trump supporters went to the Capitol; they went inside the Capitol, but we were infiltrated by an organized operation. And, I’ll tell you why, but yes it included Capitol Police, people were filming it. When I got to — when that guy — we actually tackled that guy that was trying to put a pipe bomb into the pipe and handed him over to the police. 45 minutes later, that same guy was up on the Capitol, helping people climb the wall. So, that’s why I say that — they released him — they were involved.
Mike Ferguson: Wow. And, you say “they,” you’re talking about the Capitol Police?
William: Yeah. They — we — so the guy was trying to put a pipe bomb inside the irrigation system. And he had the tools, and he was taking the cap off of the, you know, the water. And two cops — Capitol Police — yelled at him, and said, “Stop!” So he turns around to run, and he plows into an elderly lady, like a linebacker, which knocks him down. We immediately recognized him. I was there since early in the morning. When you see millions of people walking with Trump gear on, and then you see 30 or 40 together that weren’t — where…they just stood out; we knew; we could tell. And, so we got on him, we stopped him, we tackled him, we held him, until those police officers could catch him. And they took him and everything he had away. And I thought, “Awesome — we just helped the police; we did the right thing.”
30 minutes, 45 minutes later, that same guy was up on top of the Capitol, inciting the riot — the violence, telling people to go in the Capitol, telling people to burn things down, telling people, I mean, it was so obvious, because I’ve seen these same tactics at some of the riots and things that we saw over the summer. There were infiltrators that run ahead, antagonize the police. They had sticks and things that they brought in. They ran ahead, and they would hit the police and then run back, and let the patriots fight. There were people that, yes, emotions were super high. I mean, we, as we were walking to the Capitol, we found out that our vice president wasn’t going to certify, and everybody got excited. And these people, this orchestrated thing, incited people to go forward. Were they still wrong? Yes. Anyone who went inside of that Capitol building made the wrong decision — they followed the wolves right into the den. But a lot more people — the majority of people — saw what was happening and tried to stop it. They were helping the elderly; they were trying to get people out of there; they were keeping the people from breaking the Capitol building; they were holding them down. I personally saw the Capitol Police waving people in; I saw the Capitol Police remove a barrier to help — to literally let people walk past them. This was the most secure — one of the most secure — buildings in our country, on one of the most important days of a Joint Session of Congress, with the vice president in the building, and they literally laid down and let people walk by because they wanted the optics.
Mike Ferguson: Okay, so, William, these are some really big…really big accusations here. So, I mean, I know there’s people that are — of all types of political persuasions who listen to the program. They’re going to say, “Wait a minute — we’ve seen video of the fights; we’ve seen video of the tear gas; we’ve seen video of people smashing windows and doors to get in — we’ve seen all this. That doesn’t match up with what you’re saying….”
William: It absolutely does match — it matches up with what I’m saying. There were good people that did the wrong thing. I’m not saying that there weren’t. I’m not saying that this was a group of Antifa and there were no patriots involved. I’m not saying any of that. There were good people that got caught up in the moment and did the wrong thing. I saw it. I was sad to see it; I would not have gone inside our Capitol; I made the decision not to. I had the opportunity, because I was right up front. But I — we left peacefully, as most Americans did. But just like — it’s not political; it’s our society today. There’s so many people that are asleep, that just follow the person in front of them — they were wanting to take selfies inside the building; they were wanting to be — but there were people in the front that were coaching them; that were inciting them. I filmed most of everything, because I wanted — I did not get a film of the guy that we got down. I — I’m kicking myself — but I filmed almost everything. What we’re seeing on the media of people screaming and fighting — that’s not what — it looked like a parking lot at Target, elderly people, grandmas and grandpas — people were just walking casually, trying to figure out where the next place was to go.
I will tell you this: The entire Capitol building is under construction. And so, it’s surrounded by a green, like, rubberized fencing that — like you see on the side of the highway, that’s orange, in Missouri. The guys — the same guys that I’m talking about — one of them cut that fence, like a giant gate, and opened it before the crowds really got there. Because the majority of people would never have crossed that fence — I would have never crossed that fence, I would have never been on that grass. But there was no barrier when we got there. Marc Cox was on that grass; he wouldn’t climb over a barrier. But we — we didn’t know it was there; they removed the barrier so that people could casually walk up to the Capitol building and, by the time the crowds got there, you know, people were already inside the building. And they just casually walked up to see what was going on.
But the media — I have never seen anything like this in my life — the media — I went straight back to our hotel — we actually hid inside of a giant hollow tree on the — because we heard that there were rubber bullets flying; we saw snipers on buildings. So I found this giant old tree — this, like, 200-year-old tree that my wife and I could actually fit into. And I pushed her down because we couldn’t get out — we were trapped inside the Capitol complex unless we climbed over one of these fences. And we didn’t come there to climb fences; we didn’t come there to create chaos. We were just trying to do the right thing — and protest the obvious fraud and theft of our election.
Mike Ferguson: William, was there a moment, or — a time when the lightbulb goes off and you say, “Oh crap! I’m in the middle of something that’s turning really ugly. This is a big deal.” Was there a specific moment? And what was it that made you look around and go, “Here we go”?
William: Yes. When I realized that I was trapped; when I realized that I was inside of a box. They removed one side of it and I was inside this complex. And I turned around to see a million people — or however many — walking our way wanting to find out what was happening. And you could hear the anger, and excitement, and energy, and anxiety growing in these people, because they’re seeing what’s happening up front. And yes, many people ran to get involved. The same — I listened to one of your callers say, “When are we going to start fighting back?” I heard that. I heard that, and I understand that. But that’s not what this was. These were moms and dads, and aunts and uncles, that were out there protesting, and they didn’t want a part of that. But they wanted to see what was happening. So they pushed forward.
And when I realized there was no way to go back — that we could only go forward — and then, I actually lost my wife, because the crowd got so crazy, she — it was like a movie — she got swept away from me. So I climbed up on top of this pallet of chairs so that I could try to see her. And, of course, everybody in the world had a Trump hat on, and I couldn’t find her. So, I actually started to cry, because I could see and feel the energy. And I knew that it was getting out of hand. And so I climb on top of this pallet, and I almost got knocked off by Alex Jones who, out of nowhere, climbs up there with his bullhorn, and was — and, by the way, I’m not an Alex Jones follower or fan. But — I will tell you this — Alex Jones did the right thing that day. And he told people, “Do not fall into this — do not fall into this trap. Go around to the front of the building where we can peacefully assemble and listen to speakers. This is what they want. Do not fight them.” And people listened to him. He had, in that moment, the opportunity to say “Charge!” and could have rammed that building with 100,000 people if he wanted to, but he tried to stop them. Just like I tried to stop them.
And…and we got out — we got away, and I went back to my hotel room, and I, in complete disbelief, I watched the news. I watched the only news that’s available in D.C., which was, like, the mainstream media. And my mind…was blown. This was…there were no armed insurrectionists; no one had guns. They had sticks and flagpoles and…but the people that infiltrated this? They came with shields; they came with helmets; they came with gas masks. They were — and by the way, those same people? Yeah, they weren’t all, you know, they didn’t all look like Antifa. They were wearing Trump gear. But we all came with Trump gear; we all came with patriotic flags; we all came with America shirts, USA shirts. These people got off their buses and they went straight to the vendors and picked up Trump gear. They were all wearing brand new stuff; they were all wearing, like, the same hat — they had, like, all the vendors had the same stuff. So, they had the same hats and the same scarves, and you could tell what was new.
Mike Ferguson: Well, William, we’ve gotta get to a break here. I really appreciate the firsthand account on this. I’m sure it’s gonna stir a lot of discussion and debate. Honestly, a lot of people are going to believe you and some aren’t, but the only way to get the conversation going is by this type of segment just here. I appreciate you doing that. I’m glad you and your wife got back safe and got back okay.
William: Can I just say one thing? This is not for Trump supporters; this is not for Biden supporters; this is for America: If you can hear me, think about what you’re seeing — and really think about it. Think about…how easily it is for you to be manipulated. And remember that we are all Americans, and we should love each other, and we should follow law and order. That’s what we’re here for. We have to follow the law, or we’re no different than them.
Wake up, pawns. You’re being played by the Democrats and their willing accomplices in the MSM.
I don’t remember the exact particulars but not too long ago, Apple wouldn’t allow cops or federal agents into a phone that was owned by an alleged terrorist.
Now I just read in the NYTImes that Apple and other major companies have lobbied congress to water down legislation that would have cracked down on China for their treatment of Muslims in China including “forced” [i.e. slave] labor. So in summary, the treatment of Muslims in China is horrific yet Twitter still allows the CCP to tweet and isn’t the twitter app still available on the app store?
Meanwhile, Glenn Greenwald writes “…three silicon valley monopolies, Amazon, Google, and Apple — abruptly united to remove parler from the internet, exactly when it became the most dowloaded app in the country.”
I wonder if Parler can sue these 3 companies for what they’ve done? If so, I hope they get tens of billions. At a minimum, all 3 companies need to be broken up, big time.
I wonder how many people are going to delete their amazon accounts? If many do, this could hit them in the pants financially. That a bummer that would be.
Glenn Greenwald’s article today said that all the planning for the capitol storming was done on Facebook. I don’t see everyone falling over themselves to blame or ban the FB app.
Parler dose not have a private group feature with approval via a moderator and group notification. Parler is built around individual posts. Anything an individual post on Parler is open for everyone to see. Parler is a poor choice group organization. If there is evidence of coordinated efforts to “mob” the capital then evidence of those post should be easy to find.
Honest and serous question: Dose anyone have a record of the criminal activity on Parler ?
Their will obvious be crazy people post on all platforms but is their evidence of an actual crime using the platform to organize the mob. But show us the evidence of how Parler platform enabled the mob.
FB groups with moderator control of group audience that shares maps and files would be the platform for crazy people.
Maybe this was an excuse to eliminate competition.
Facebook just trashed every post having anything to do with “Stop the Steal”. It’s simple functions like this, even AFTER the damage has been done, that keeps Facebook’s/Twitter’s and others’ service providers happy.
I’m pretty sure that if Parler had said “we’ll start working on how to remove those posts”, they’d still be up now.” They wouldn’t have to even actually DO anything, just tell Amazon they’d start working on it.
Hopefully, in the vacuum, another conservative company that knows how to do business will come along and take their place as they most assuredly won’t be coming back
Which post on Parler was marked illegal? Can you provide any screen shoots or links ? again Im not saying it didn’t happen but I think its a fair question to see the specific post(s) and words that are illegal. It’s easy to make accusations but I think we need to see what constitutes illegal speech related to the mob at the capital.
I don’t think phrases “stop the steal” is illegal speech. It may be uninformed and it may be stupid but is it illegal ? Dose it equal violence ? Im asking an honest question.
In CCP China posting of whinne the poo is illegal because it mocks Xi Jinping
I’m not saying our free speech is controlled like CCP but where dose the current purge stop. Who gets to determine what is illegal? Can double standards be applied to political and business competition. Could Samsung censor and edit information on apple based by any standard they make?
Im a liberal, the control of speech, unless it directly is used in illegal crimes, is just wrong.
Don’t be evil
monopolies crush free thought, innovation, and competition.
I don’t trust FB or Google. Google rigs search terms to drive business to their advantage.
Is Google controlling of search results also protected under their free speech?
Break Up Big Tech
Dummy,
The left did not try to destroy Parler because they had anything to do with political violence from the right. They are not as concerned over conspiracy theories as they want us to think. Fools like “Zero Leverage” lap up the pablum precisely because they are fools.
The left’s motivation is clear: They do not want conservatives to express their views on platforms they do not control.
human behavior is the same most everywhere but the oversized liberal outrage is laughable. they’re offended at just about everything except aborting the most vulnerable right up to the day of birth. and parler, the only surprising thing is they reside on servers belonging to the same man who owns the washington post. and, tim cook, he is half of a man. so much thought and deliberation, writing, soldiering and dying for our rights over 250yrs, and an ocean of tears, and to join with amazon, facebook, twitter, reddit, etc., etc. in their oversized outrage, taking such umbrage. it’s despicable.
I don’t like anybody being censored or taking away from the right to post a message on Twitter or Face(book). I don’t agree with that, I don’t accept that… “Let’s see, I, as the judge of the Holy Inquisition, will punish you because I think what you’re saying is harmful.”
Where is the law, where is the regulation, what are the norms? This is an issue of government, this is not an issue for private companies.
Facebook’s decision to silence the current leader of the United States calls for a debate on freedom of expression, the free exchange of information on the web, democracy and the role of the companies that administer [social] networks.
— Andrés Manuel López Obrado, President of Mexico
I think that the ban of Donald Trump on Twitter is an unacceptable act of censorship… Among the people who have Twitter accounts are cold-blooded murderers (Putin or Maduro)… For many years, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have been used as a base for Putin’s ‘troll factory’ and similar groups from other authoritarian countries. Those who denied COVID-19 exist freely and communicate on Twitter. Their words have cost thousands of lives. And yet, it was Trump who got banned publicly and ostentatiously. Such selectivity indicates that this was an act of censorship.
— Alexei Navalny, leader of Russian opposition to Vladimir Putin
From Mexico, who didn’t pay for the wall (or have you all convinced yourselves that Mexico DID pay for the wall?) and wait, are you attempting to imply that Vladimir Putin is a bad guy by touting the words of his OPPOSITION? You might want to check with your conservative conSnowflake comrades before you to down that path. 🙂 Last I heard from that side of the aisle, Russia never did anything wrong.
I blame this ignorance on a failure of our educational system. Is there not a single Trumpist that knows anything about the Constitution? The 1st Amendment’s free speech protection applies only to the government. If the government isn’t doing it, it’s not censorship. Even so, ALL speech is NOT protected. For example, libel and slander are not protected. Then there’s the classic example of yelling “FIRE” in a crowded theater. You can’t say things that are likely to put people in imminent danger. And let’s not forget seditious conspiracy, also a no-no.
Aside from all that, just because you have the right to say what you want, I’m under no obligation to help you spread your message. A private company can do business with anyone they want. Have you ever seen one of those signs, “We reserve the right to refuse service”? For example, a baker can refuse to bake a cake for gay people. Is that baker guilty of censorship? Besides, it’s not like anyone is actually paying any of these media companies for the services they provide. We live in a capitalist society. If you don’t like the service a company provides, use another, or start your own company. Invest in whatever it takes to build a multimedia platform, instead of complaining about having your source of free publicity taken away.
If the government isn’t doing it, it’s not censorship. https://www.aclu.org/other/what-censorship
“Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are “offensive,” happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups.”
The fact you deride others about ignorance is touching.
As far as the Constitution is concerned, I should have added. That is, within the context of the 1st Amendment and freedom of speech.
Also, within the context of the companies involved, I don’t think any of them fit the description of a “private pressure group.”
The point he is making is that the only form of censorship that the United States Constitution prohibits is censorship by a government-connected person or entity. Private parties are not “Congress,” as mentioned in the First Amendment, nor do they fall within the expansion to state and local governments in the Fourteenth Amendment. As far as the Constitution is concerned, non-governmental actors can censor to their hearts’ desire. To claim otherwise is as ignorant as Tony Aroma said.
Ignorance is not touching.
twitter uses AI to flag content and communication so they can remove it from the platform.
Since these companies are not providing an essential services and not using government resources and/or protections to help provide their services. And since the control of the end user activity on their platforms are not protected by free speech and can not be “censored” because they are private companies, would it possible for Apple to use AI voice recognition on their phone platform to block voice calls in real time. If the end user said something that was dangerous or hateful could Apple not stop their service? They are a privately operated platform so technically they can refuse business to anyone for any reason.
Example; if someone made a phone call and said something hateful or demeaning to a person with handicapped, or said something sexist about a different gender or shamed someone by calling them fat, could Apple stop that speech on their platform? that’s not censorship right ? It’s Apple’s right to refuse business to anyone. Of course the end user could still keep the phone just not continue to use Apple’s services on the phone.
I think Apple should allow that feature, people say really mean and hurtful stuff on private conversations. Think how much better we would all be if we could eliminate all forms of inappropriate speech. Maybe we finally solved the puzzle to world peace.
The CCP China has a social credit system. This system is used to control access to money, banks, travel, employment, social services, ect .. Apple should have a credit system like that. Good behavior and proper speech could earn discounts and bad behavior would get you locked out or removed.
Heck all this time we have been trying to use government to make the world a better place. But let’s face it, with all the “limitations of government” there is no way anything meaningful will ever get done, But now maybe we have the answer, it’s Big Tech. Apple, google, Amazon can do things that the government covid never do and they can do it fast. No need to worry about courts, law and all that jazz. Who would have guessed the solution for all our public problems would come from the private sector.
Oh honestly, we’re had to hear and put up with right wing, tin foil hat, baseless, stupid, inane, fascist, racist, vain, ignorant crap and lies from Trump and all his supporters for too long now.
They’ve had enough freedom of speech/expression/protest. They’ve lost and gone too far. Time to put up, shut-up and get marginalized, banged-up, locked-out, ignored, put into a nutcase party on their own.
I’m sure they’ve created a WhatsApp group already and I wish them luck with that 😉
None of this is about “safety,” it’s about purposely inflating a threat in order to assert political and cultural dominance.
Imagine thinking that the pattern of unaccountable corporations orchestrating increasingly extreme purges of political speech is a positive development for society? Idiots.
The justification about the risk of further “violence” is total bullshit. This was a political calculation, and a capitulation to hysterical babies. If you are cheering it, you are an authoritarian dupe with the foresight of a fruit fly.
The new corporate authoritarian liberal-left monoculture is going to be absolutely ruthless — and in 9 days it is merging with the state. This only the beginning.
The most extreme, coordinated corporate censorship offensive in modern history and liberals/leftists are in a mindless celebratory stupor. Pathetic.
Corporate liberals and leftists have been absolutely obsessed with purging the internet of political undesirables since 2016, and this “crisis” is the perfect opportunity to finally fulfill their deepest authoritarian wish.
(Michael Tracey posts copied from a social network that shall remain nameless due to authoritarian censorship.)
In a word. Bullshit. The whole of your comment is total and utter crap, it stinks to high heaven and shows you are a Trump QAnon sheep. Move on to protest little sheep, go invade the inauguration.. I’m not paying your bail.
Those who think Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. are doing the right thing, should listen to the words of those who are much smarter:
“Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.” ― Bruce Coville
“Free societies…are societies in motion, and with motion comes tension, dissent, friction. Free people strike sparks, and those sparks are the best evidence of freedom’s existence.” ― Salman Rushdie
“All censorships exist to prevent anyone from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently, the first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.” ― George Bernard Shaw
Tim Cook is a weak individual who is seemingly obsessed with appearing saintly to a certain class of cretins who call themselves “progressives,” but who are anything but.
Having been stung over a prolonged period of time by Facebook’s unilateral, unexplained blocking of links and emails for a nonprofit I work with, I have to agree with the sentiment here, even if I don’t like it. Unless the government is moderating and/or running a social media platform, I don’t buy the “freedom of speech” argument – just my opinion. But I do see the lack of consistency with which these companies are shutting Parler down. Do I think Parler is dangerous and that it attracts a crowd more prone to violence and hate, yes, but ANY is unacceptable. So just because other platforms have more diluted violent or hateful content, doesn’t make them any less despicable.
That said, what Apple is saying is “at least make a good-faith effort to moderate content.” Parler is saying “we won’t do any.” Different but only by a little.
But I wonder, how many of us have registered for the Feds Do Not Call List? And how often do you get spam calls?
But let me be clear – I think it is the right thing to do to shut down Parler and Trump on social media because of their role in inciting violence. If Twitter and Facebook can shut this sort of activity down, well, then, that would be sufficient.
You should change your name to “bullshit.” You are in idiot if you think shutting down Paler and Trump is right. But you can’t expect more from someone stupid enough to vote for a dementia patient.
Parler is NOT saying “we won’t do any.” Quite the opposite:
CEO John Matze said he was doing more than Facebook and Twitter to try and remove violent content from his app. In a statement Monday morning self declared libertarian Matze said: ‘Evaluated objectively, our system worked as well or better than the methods used by our competitors, while adhering to our principles.’
‘Evaluated objectively, our system worked as well or better than the methods used by our competitors, while adhering to our principles.’
Yeah, but… I mean, would he say anything differently? Does all critical thinking go out the window once you realize the statement is from someone that supports your beliefs?
What if Facebook, who has VERY PUBLICLY been seen removing swaths of users at a whim, said:
‘Evaluated objectively, our system worked as well or better than the methods used by our competitors, while adhering to our principles.’
Me? I wouldn’t believe either because they’re both speaking from a position where it doesn’t make sense for them to say anything BUT that. Unfortunately, I can predict that most conservatives would believe John and not believe Mark. I say most because a very large number of them rejected Donald Trump.
If Parler was deleting extremist posts inciting violence at the same rate as Facebook and Twitter, there would be the same volume of complaints from those who considered themselves censored. Instead, there are floods of complaints about the MSM, but nothing but praise for Parler. That tells us that they aren’t deleting very much.
That said, what Apple is saying is “at least make a good-faith effort to moderate content.” Parler is saying “we won’t do any.” Different but only by a little.
Not True.
parler has an enforcement policy to removal illegal content. Show us the illegal content.
What parler dose not do is use AI to monitor and flag “unacceptable” content based on keywords via editorial decisions
To understand why the establishment is trying to remove President Trump, look no further than what President Trump did with prescription drugs, dramatically lowering prices for American citizens.
That sort of thing simply cannot stand. Large sums of money are involved and the swamp is powered by money generated from running roughshod over American citizens in every way possible.
President Trump was accountable to no donor class, hence he had to be removed from office by whatever means possible. If it took the mass-mailing of blank ballots without maintaining any chain of custody, unapproved by state legislatures unconstitutionally, resulting in fraudulent election results, so be it.
I would reply, but I am not sure what I am allowed to say on MDN any more. It would be nice to have clear published guidelines and an avenue of appeal like Apple provides for App Store denials. However, this is MDN’s site and they can apply whatever policies they like, because that is the way the First Amendment works. Nobody is required to help me get my message out if they disagree with it.
I wonder how Obama and the gang plan to get rid of OBiden.
I would rather he die of natural causes…like covid, wouldn’t it be ironic with the way he wears two masks and won’t let anyone within 100 feet of him.
People should attend his funeral sitting in their cars and honk when it’s over, maybe throw their masks on his grave.
Oh sorry, was just dreaming and didn’t realize I was typing…🤭
They will just arkancide him, just like the others that they didn’t like. He was just a tool to get the slut in office since it was obvious that even libturds would not vote for her.
Good God, you people are all paranoid and in need of medication and counseling not to mention an education in modern civics. Move to South America with the rest of the former nazi’s and confederates.
Let’s not forget what we’re talking about here:
– PLANNING murder… whether to kill Pence, Roberts or Pelosi first.
– Armed invasion of the seat of government
– Bombs, multiple weapons, zip ties for hostages
– Two police officers killed
And have you watched the videos? The way some people were beaten by those MAGA thugs, it’s amazing more didn’t die.
And then, afterwards, many of the whiny little bitches not even having the courage of their convictions… trying to portray “misjudgment” or “getting carried away at the moment”.
Or, one step further, blaming the actions they took while there on a completely unrelated group of people. If only they hadn’t been so proud of what they were doing at the time, there might be folks that believe it was Antifa.
Who am I kidding, their entire worldview hinges on all bad things being done by people that are “not like me”. So they can’t possibly accept the fact that it was Trump supporters (even with all of the social media posts going back YEARS confirming that these were no BLM sympathizers) that did this. So, no matter how many conservatives are outed, lose their jobs, lose their business partnerships, etc, they will still all believe that Antifa made them do it. And other conservatives, understanding that no conservatives should EVER deal with the consequences of any action, will believe them.
Can you share how Parler was used to “plan murder” Was the post a Mega bigots spouting off or was the post(s) specific information that was used to commit a crime? It’s important to be factual. We need to raise above low resolution unspecific claims.
We can find wackos on both sides but sane people in the middle need to hold the line for the principle of freedom of speech. We should not tread lightly the shoe could easily be on the other foot.
I think this is a legit move by Parler, and I hope they are successful. I recently posted that Google and Apple were protecting themselves from liability by removing Parler, but I think this move by Amazon is outside that justification. I do not believe that Amazon could be held liable for an app built on its web services.
This also highlights the possible dangers of the subscription / Licensing business model, and shows that efforts must be made to encourage open-source alternatives.
Although I frequently hear about the dangers of of Fascists and Communists on this site, this looks more like a cautionary tale of the power and influence of the ultra-wealthy. “That’s a nice app you’ve got there, be a same if something happened to it….”
They should sue Apple too.
Apple remove the app because it was supposedly used to organize violence. Besides the fact that it BS, Apple should stop selling the iPhone because it was used to access the app
“Apple should stop selling the iPhone because it was used to access the app”
They SHOULD stop selling the iPhone.. to people that organize violence. 🙂
97.1 FM Talk:
Mike Ferguson (subbing in for Marc Cox): Okay, this is going to be an interesting conversation here — it’s 8:36, by the way, I’m Mike Ferguson. William was there, just like Marc was there, but Marc was about, he said, what? 75 yards back from the Capitol with the crowds; that’s about as close as he got. So, he could see, you know, the tear gas, and he could hear commotion — he heard some flashbangs, he was telling us. William, who joins us now, he was way up front on this. And, Tricia, you talked to William earlier; this will be my first time chatting with him, so you vetted he is who he says he is; he talked to Marc out there, so, William, appreciate the call here. And when I say you were up front, you were like way up front when the protest/scuffles were happening. How close is “up front”? Just define that for us. And did you actually go into the Capitol building?
William: Good morning, guys, can you hear me okay? Okay. First of all, I want to start out by saying no, I did not go inside the Capitol. I would not go inside the Capitol. I am a patriot — we went to Washington D.C. to support our president; we did not go to storm the Capitol. I left Trump’s speech, in the middle of his speech, because my wife got cold. We had been there all day, and she was freezing, and she said, “Sweetheart, you’re going to kill me, but we have to start walking; I’ve gotta get some blood pumping.” And, so, begrudgingly, we left early. And so we got to the Capitol in enough time — God’s timing is perfect — I saw how this entire thing started, and that’s why I’m here, because I want the people to hear what the media’s not telling you.
Mike Ferguson: Okay. Which part of the Capitol were you around? Because we know there was people basically all around the Capitol building.
William: So, if you saw video or pictures of the Capitol building, there was a white, U.S. Government SUV parked maybe near the base of the steps. Initially, I made it to that vehicle, and there was maybe a couple hundred people there.
Mike Ferguson: Okay, and so when you say you want people to know how it started and what happened, what did you see? And how far were you from it?
William: Okay, so this is not conjecture. I will start out by telling you that I was close enough to touch the Capitol wall. I was 5 feet from one of the outside infiltrators that was trying to put a pipebomb inside the water system of the Capitol. Here’s what I will tell you, what I saw and what the people need to know. Yes, Trump supporters went to the Capitol; they went inside the Capitol, but we were infiltrated by an organized operation. And, I’ll tell you why, but yes it included Capitol Police, people were filming it. When I got to — when that guy — we actually tackled that guy that was trying to put a pipe bomb into the pipe and handed him over to the police. 45 minutes later, that same guy was up on the Capitol, helping people climb the wall. So, that’s why I say that — they released him — they were involved.
Mike Ferguson: Wow. And, you say “they,” you’re talking about the Capitol Police?
William: Yeah. They — we — so the guy was trying to put a pipe bomb inside the irrigation system. And he had the tools, and he was taking the cap off of the, you know, the water. And two cops — Capitol Police — yelled at him, and said, “Stop!” So he turns around to run, and he plows into an elderly lady, like a linebacker, which knocks him down. We immediately recognized him. I was there since early in the morning. When you see millions of people walking with Trump gear on, and then you see 30 or 40 together that weren’t — where…they just stood out; we knew; we could tell. And, so we got on him, we stopped him, we tackled him, we held him, until those police officers could catch him. And they took him and everything he had away. And I thought, “Awesome — we just helped the police; we did the right thing.”
30 minutes, 45 minutes later, that same guy was up on top of the Capitol, inciting the riot — the violence, telling people to go in the Capitol, telling people to burn things down, telling people, I mean, it was so obvious, because I’ve seen these same tactics at some of the riots and things that we saw over the summer. There were infiltrators that run ahead, antagonize the police. They had sticks and things that they brought in. They ran ahead, and they would hit the police and then run back, and let the patriots fight. There were people that, yes, emotions were super high. I mean, we, as we were walking to the Capitol, we found out that our vice president wasn’t going to certify, and everybody got excited. And these people, this orchestrated thing, incited people to go forward. Were they still wrong? Yes. Anyone who went inside of that Capitol building made the wrong decision — they followed the wolves right into the den. But a lot more people — the majority of people — saw what was happening and tried to stop it. They were helping the elderly; they were trying to get people out of there; they were keeping the people from breaking the Capitol building; they were holding them down. I personally saw the Capitol Police waving people in; I saw the Capitol Police remove a barrier to help — to literally let people walk past them. This was the most secure — one of the most secure — buildings in our country, on one of the most important days of a Joint Session of Congress, with the vice president in the building, and they literally laid down and let people walk by because they wanted the optics.
Mike Ferguson: Okay, so, William, these are some really big…really big accusations here. So, I mean, I know there’s people that are — of all types of political persuasions who listen to the program. They’re going to say, “Wait a minute — we’ve seen video of the fights; we’ve seen video of the tear gas; we’ve seen video of people smashing windows and doors to get in — we’ve seen all this. That doesn’t match up with what you’re saying….”
William: It absolutely does match — it matches up with what I’m saying. There were good people that did the wrong thing. I’m not saying that there weren’t. I’m not saying that this was a group of Antifa and there were no patriots involved. I’m not saying any of that. There were good people that got caught up in the moment and did the wrong thing. I saw it. I was sad to see it; I would not have gone inside our Capitol; I made the decision not to. I had the opportunity, because I was right up front. But I — we left peacefully, as most Americans did. But just like — it’s not political; it’s our society today. There’s so many people that are asleep, that just follow the person in front of them — they were wanting to take selfies inside the building; they were wanting to be — but there were people in the front that were coaching them; that were inciting them. I filmed most of everything, because I wanted — I did not get a film of the guy that we got down. I — I’m kicking myself — but I filmed almost everything. What we’re seeing on the media of people screaming and fighting — that’s not what — it looked like a parking lot at Target, elderly people, grandmas and grandpas — people were just walking casually, trying to figure out where the next place was to go.
I will tell you this: The entire Capitol building is under construction. And so, it’s surrounded by a green, like, rubberized fencing that — like you see on the side of the highway, that’s orange, in Missouri. The guys — the same guys that I’m talking about — one of them cut that fence, like a giant gate, and opened it before the crowds really got there. Because the majority of people would never have crossed that fence — I would have never crossed that fence, I would have never been on that grass. But there was no barrier when we got there. Marc Cox was on that grass; he wouldn’t climb over a barrier. But we — we didn’t know it was there; they removed the barrier so that people could casually walk up to the Capitol building and, by the time the crowds got there, you know, people were already inside the building. And they just casually walked up to see what was going on.
But the media — I have never seen anything like this in my life — the media — I went straight back to our hotel — we actually hid inside of a giant hollow tree on the — because we heard that there were rubber bullets flying; we saw snipers on buildings. So I found this giant old tree — this, like, 200-year-old tree that my wife and I could actually fit into. And I pushed her down because we couldn’t get out — we were trapped inside the Capitol complex unless we climbed over one of these fences. And we didn’t come there to climb fences; we didn’t come there to create chaos. We were just trying to do the right thing — and protest the obvious fraud and theft of our election.
Mike Ferguson: William, was there a moment, or — a time when the lightbulb goes off and you say, “Oh crap! I’m in the middle of something that’s turning really ugly. This is a big deal.” Was there a specific moment? And what was it that made you look around and go, “Here we go”?
William: Yes. When I realized that I was trapped; when I realized that I was inside of a box. They removed one side of it and I was inside this complex. And I turned around to see a million people — or however many — walking our way wanting to find out what was happening. And you could hear the anger, and excitement, and energy, and anxiety growing in these people, because they’re seeing what’s happening up front. And yes, many people ran to get involved. The same — I listened to one of your callers say, “When are we going to start fighting back?” I heard that. I heard that, and I understand that. But that’s not what this was. These were moms and dads, and aunts and uncles, that were out there protesting, and they didn’t want a part of that. But they wanted to see what was happening. So they pushed forward.
And when I realized there was no way to go back — that we could only go forward — and then, I actually lost my wife, because the crowd got so crazy, she — it was like a movie — she got swept away from me. So I climbed up on top of this pallet of chairs so that I could try to see her. And, of course, everybody in the world had a Trump hat on, and I couldn’t find her. So, I actually started to cry, because I could see and feel the energy. And I knew that it was getting out of hand. And so I climb on top of this pallet, and I almost got knocked off by Alex Jones who, out of nowhere, climbs up there with his bullhorn, and was — and, by the way, I’m not an Alex Jones follower or fan. But — I will tell you this — Alex Jones did the right thing that day. And he told people, “Do not fall into this — do not fall into this trap. Go around to the front of the building where we can peacefully assemble and listen to speakers. This is what they want. Do not fight them.” And people listened to him. He had, in that moment, the opportunity to say “Charge!” and could have rammed that building with 100,000 people if he wanted to, but he tried to stop them. Just like I tried to stop them.
And…and we got out — we got away, and I went back to my hotel room, and I, in complete disbelief, I watched the news. I watched the only news that’s available in D.C., which was, like, the mainstream media. And my mind…was blown. This was…there were no armed insurrectionists; no one had guns. They had sticks and flagpoles and…but the people that infiltrated this? They came with shields; they came with helmets; they came with gas masks. They were — and by the way, those same people? Yeah, they weren’t all, you know, they didn’t all look like Antifa. They were wearing Trump gear. But we all came with Trump gear; we all came with patriotic flags; we all came with America shirts, USA shirts. These people got off their buses and they went straight to the vendors and picked up Trump gear. They were all wearing brand new stuff; they were all wearing, like, the same hat — they had, like, all the vendors had the same stuff. So, they had the same hats and the same scarves, and you could tell what was new.
Mike Ferguson: Well, William, we’ve gotta get to a break here. I really appreciate the firsthand account on this. I’m sure it’s gonna stir a lot of discussion and debate. Honestly, a lot of people are going to believe you and some aren’t, but the only way to get the conversation going is by this type of segment just here. I appreciate you doing that. I’m glad you and your wife got back safe and got back okay.
William: Can I just say one thing? This is not for Trump supporters; this is not for Biden supporters; this is for America: If you can hear me, think about what you’re seeing — and really think about it. Think about…how easily it is for you to be manipulated. And remember that we are all Americans, and we should love each other, and we should follow law and order. That’s what we’re here for. We have to follow the law, or we’re no different than them.
Wake up, pawns. You’re being played by the Democrats and their willing accomplices in the MSM.
I don’t remember the exact particulars but not too long ago, Apple wouldn’t allow cops or federal agents into a phone that was owned by an alleged terrorist.
Now I just read in the NYTImes that Apple and other major companies have lobbied congress to water down legislation that would have cracked down on China for their treatment of Muslims in China including “forced” [i.e. slave] labor. So in summary, the treatment of Muslims in China is horrific yet Twitter still allows the CCP to tweet and isn’t the twitter app still available on the app store?
Meanwhile, Glenn Greenwald writes “…three silicon valley monopolies, Amazon, Google, and Apple — abruptly united to remove parler from the internet, exactly when it became the most dowloaded app in the country.”
I wonder if Parler can sue these 3 companies for what they’ve done? If so, I hope they get tens of billions. At a minimum, all 3 companies need to be broken up, big time.
I wonder how many people are going to delete their amazon accounts? If many do, this could hit them in the pants financially. That a bummer that would be.
We are moving deeper into a period where truth is decreed from limited sources and discovery and self-determination of the truth is being curtailed.
This contemporary reality is being advocated by the left.
Glenn Greenwald’s article today said that all the planning for the capitol storming was done on Facebook. I don’t see everyone falling over themselves to blame or ban the FB app.
Parler dose not have a private group feature with approval via a moderator and group notification. Parler is built around individual posts. Anything an individual post on Parler is open for everyone to see. Parler is a poor choice group organization. If there is evidence of coordinated efforts to “mob” the capital then evidence of those post should be easy to find.
Honest and serous question: Dose anyone have a record of the criminal activity on Parler ?
Their will obvious be crazy people post on all platforms but is their evidence of an actual crime using the platform to organize the mob. But show us the evidence of how Parler platform enabled the mob.
FB groups with moderator control of group audience that shares maps and files would be the platform for crazy people.
Maybe this was an excuse to eliminate competition.
Facebook just trashed every post having anything to do with “Stop the Steal”. It’s simple functions like this, even AFTER the damage has been done, that keeps Facebook’s/Twitter’s and others’ service providers happy.
I’m pretty sure that if Parler had said “we’ll start working on how to remove those posts”, they’d still be up now.” They wouldn’t have to even actually DO anything, just tell Amazon they’d start working on it.
Hopefully, in the vacuum, another conservative company that knows how to do business will come along and take their place as they most assuredly won’t be coming back
Which post on Parler was marked illegal? Can you provide any screen shoots or links ? again Im not saying it didn’t happen but I think its a fair question to see the specific post(s) and words that are illegal. It’s easy to make accusations but I think we need to see what constitutes illegal speech related to the mob at the capital.
I don’t think phrases “stop the steal” is illegal speech. It may be uninformed and it may be stupid but is it illegal ? Dose it equal violence ? Im asking an honest question.
In CCP China posting of whinne the poo is illegal because it mocks Xi Jinping
I’m not saying our free speech is controlled like CCP but where dose the current purge stop. Who gets to determine what is illegal? Can double standards be applied to political and business competition. Could Samsung censor and edit information on apple based by any standard they make?
Im a liberal, the control of speech, unless it directly is used in illegal crimes, is just wrong.
Don’t be evil
monopolies crush free thought, innovation, and competition.
I don’t trust FB or Google. Google rigs search terms to drive business to their advantage.
Is Google controlling of search results also protected under their free speech?
Break Up Big Tech
Dummy,
The left did not try to destroy Parler because they had anything to do with political violence from the right. They are not as concerned over conspiracy theories as they want us to think. Fools like “Zero Leverage” lap up the pablum precisely because they are fools.
The left’s motivation is clear: They do not want conservatives to express their views on platforms they do not control.
human behavior is the same most everywhere but the oversized liberal outrage is laughable. they’re offended at just about everything except aborting the most vulnerable right up to the day of birth. and parler, the only surprising thing is they reside on servers belonging to the same man who owns the washington post. and, tim cook, he is half of a man. so much thought and deliberation, writing, soldiering and dying for our rights over 250yrs, and an ocean of tears, and to join with amazon, facebook, twitter, reddit, etc., etc. in their oversized outrage, taking such umbrage. it’s despicable.
I don’t like anybody being censored or taking away from the right to post a message on Twitter or Face(book). I don’t agree with that, I don’t accept that… “Let’s see, I, as the judge of the Holy Inquisition, will punish you because I think what you’re saying is harmful.”
Where is the law, where is the regulation, what are the norms? This is an issue of government, this is not an issue for private companies.
Facebook’s decision to silence the current leader of the United States calls for a debate on freedom of expression, the free exchange of information on the web, democracy and the role of the companies that administer [social] networks.
— Andrés Manuel López Obrado, President of Mexico
I think that the ban of Donald Trump on Twitter is an unacceptable act of censorship… Among the people who have Twitter accounts are cold-blooded murderers (Putin or Maduro)… For many years, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have been used as a base for Putin’s ‘troll factory’ and similar groups from other authoritarian countries. Those who denied COVID-19 exist freely and communicate on Twitter. Their words have cost thousands of lives. And yet, it was Trump who got banned publicly and ostentatiously. Such selectivity indicates that this was an act of censorship.
— Alexei Navalny, leader of Russian opposition to Vladimir Putin
You’re losing, Dem/Lib/Prog Big Brothers.
From Mexico, who didn’t pay for the wall (or have you all convinced yourselves that Mexico DID pay for the wall?) and wait, are you attempting to imply that Vladimir Putin is a bad guy by touting the words of his OPPOSITION? You might want to check with your conservative conSnowflake comrades before you to down that path. 🙂 Last I heard from that side of the aisle, Russia never did anything wrong.
I blame this ignorance on a failure of our educational system. Is there not a single Trumpist that knows anything about the Constitution? The 1st Amendment’s free speech protection applies only to the government. If the government isn’t doing it, it’s not censorship. Even so, ALL speech is NOT protected. For example, libel and slander are not protected. Then there’s the classic example of yelling “FIRE” in a crowded theater. You can’t say things that are likely to put people in imminent danger. And let’s not forget seditious conspiracy, also a no-no.
Aside from all that, just because you have the right to say what you want, I’m under no obligation to help you spread your message. A private company can do business with anyone they want. Have you ever seen one of those signs, “We reserve the right to refuse service”? For example, a baker can refuse to bake a cake for gay people. Is that baker guilty of censorship? Besides, it’s not like anyone is actually paying any of these media companies for the services they provide. We live in a capitalist society. If you don’t like the service a company provides, use another, or start your own company. Invest in whatever it takes to build a multimedia platform, instead of complaining about having your source of free publicity taken away.
Context.
As far as the Constitution is concerned, I should have added. That is, within the context of the 1st Amendment and freedom of speech.
Also, within the context of the companies involved, I don’t think any of them fit the description of a “private pressure group.”
The point he is making is that the only form of censorship that the United States Constitution prohibits is censorship by a government-connected person or entity. Private parties are not “Congress,” as mentioned in the First Amendment, nor do they fall within the expansion to state and local governments in the Fourteenth Amendment. As far as the Constitution is concerned, non-governmental actors can censor to their hearts’ desire. To claim otherwise is as ignorant as Tony Aroma said.
Ignorance is not touching.
twitter uses AI to flag content and communication so they can remove it from the platform.
Since these companies are not providing an essential services and not using government resources and/or protections to help provide their services. And since the control of the end user activity on their platforms are not protected by free speech and can not be “censored” because they are private companies, would it possible for Apple to use AI voice recognition on their phone platform to block voice calls in real time. If the end user said something that was dangerous or hateful could Apple not stop their service? They are a privately operated platform so technically they can refuse business to anyone for any reason.
Example; if someone made a phone call and said something hateful or demeaning to a person with handicapped, or said something sexist about a different gender or shamed someone by calling them fat, could Apple stop that speech on their platform? that’s not censorship right ? It’s Apple’s right to refuse business to anyone. Of course the end user could still keep the phone just not continue to use Apple’s services on the phone.
I think Apple should allow that feature, people say really mean and hurtful stuff on private conversations. Think how much better we would all be if we could eliminate all forms of inappropriate speech. Maybe we finally solved the puzzle to world peace.
The CCP China has a social credit system. This system is used to control access to money, banks, travel, employment, social services, ect .. Apple should have a credit system like that. Good behavior and proper speech could earn discounts and bad behavior would get you locked out or removed.
Heck all this time we have been trying to use government to make the world a better place. But let’s face it, with all the “limitations of government” there is no way anything meaningful will ever get done, But now maybe we have the answer, it’s Big Tech. Apple, google, Amazon can do things that the government covid never do and they can do it fast. No need to worry about courts, law and all that jazz. Who would have guessed the solution for all our public problems would come from the private sector.
Oh honestly, we’re had to hear and put up with right wing, tin foil hat, baseless, stupid, inane, fascist, racist, vain, ignorant crap and lies from Trump and all his supporters for too long now.
They’ve had enough freedom of speech/expression/protest. They’ve lost and gone too far. Time to put up, shut-up and get marginalized, banged-up, locked-out, ignored, put into a nutcase party on their own.
I’m sure they’ve created a WhatsApp group already and I wish them luck with that 😉
I follow MacDailyNews on Parler because Twitter had become too toxic.
Here’s what happens today on Parler, it’s gone because of Amazon:
https://parler.com/profile/MacDailyNews/posts
None of this is about “safety,” it’s about purposely inflating a threat in order to assert political and cultural dominance.
Imagine thinking that the pattern of unaccountable corporations orchestrating increasingly extreme purges of political speech is a positive development for society? Idiots.
The justification about the risk of further “violence” is total bullshit. This was a political calculation, and a capitulation to hysterical babies. If you are cheering it, you are an authoritarian dupe with the foresight of a fruit fly.
The new corporate authoritarian liberal-left monoculture is going to be absolutely ruthless — and in 9 days it is merging with the state. This only the beginning.
The most extreme, coordinated corporate censorship offensive in modern history and liberals/leftists are in a mindless celebratory stupor. Pathetic.
Corporate liberals and leftists have been absolutely obsessed with purging the internet of political undesirables since 2016, and this “crisis” is the perfect opportunity to finally fulfill their deepest authoritarian wish.
(Michael Tracey posts copied from a social network that shall remain nameless due to authoritarian censorship.)
I guess we see why these corporations hated Trump. He wasn’t beholden to them…and that’s just not allowed. Enter Biden….
In a word. Bullshit. The whole of your comment is total and utter crap, it stinks to high heaven and shows you are a Trump QAnon sheep. Move on to protest little sheep, go invade the inauguration.. I’m not paying your bail.
Those who think Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. are doing the right thing, should listen to the words of those who are much smarter:
“Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.” ― Bruce Coville
“Free societies…are societies in motion, and with motion comes tension, dissent, friction. Free people strike sparks, and those sparks are the best evidence of freedom’s existence.” ― Salman Rushdie
“All censorships exist to prevent anyone from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently, the first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.” ― George Bernard Shaw
Tim Cook is a weak individual who is seemingly obsessed with appearing saintly to a certain class of cretins who call themselves “progressives,” but who are anything but.
You loose your freedoms when you act or are found to want to act against a facist or democratic society.
I’d say Tim has been a smart individual and waited for the right point. Same with Twitter and Facebook.
Having been stung over a prolonged period of time by Facebook’s unilateral, unexplained blocking of links and emails for a nonprofit I work with, I have to agree with the sentiment here, even if I don’t like it. Unless the government is moderating and/or running a social media platform, I don’t buy the “freedom of speech” argument – just my opinion. But I do see the lack of consistency with which these companies are shutting Parler down. Do I think Parler is dangerous and that it attracts a crowd more prone to violence and hate, yes, but ANY is unacceptable. So just because other platforms have more diluted violent or hateful content, doesn’t make them any less despicable.
That said, what Apple is saying is “at least make a good-faith effort to moderate content.” Parler is saying “we won’t do any.” Different but only by a little.
But I wonder, how many of us have registered for the Feds Do Not Call List? And how often do you get spam calls?
But let me be clear – I think it is the right thing to do to shut down Parler and Trump on social media because of their role in inciting violence. If Twitter and Facebook can shut this sort of activity down, well, then, that would be sufficient.
You should change your name to “bullshit.” You are in idiot if you think shutting down Paler and Trump is right. But you can’t expect more from someone stupid enough to vote for a dementia patient.
Winning dementia patient!
Parler is NOT saying “we won’t do any.” Quite the opposite:
CEO John Matze said he was doing more than Facebook and Twitter to try and remove violent content from his app. In a statement Monday morning self declared libertarian Matze said: ‘Evaluated objectively, our system worked as well or better than the methods used by our competitors, while adhering to our principles.’
‘Evaluated objectively, our system worked as well or better than the methods used by our competitors, while adhering to our principles.’
Yeah, but… I mean, would he say anything differently? Does all critical thinking go out the window once you realize the statement is from someone that supports your beliefs?
What if Facebook, who has VERY PUBLICLY been seen removing swaths of users at a whim, said:
‘Evaluated objectively, our system worked as well or better than the methods used by our competitors, while adhering to our principles.’
Me? I wouldn’t believe either because they’re both speaking from a position where it doesn’t make sense for them to say anything BUT that. Unfortunately, I can predict that most conservatives would believe John and not believe Mark. I say most because a very large number of them rejected Donald Trump.
If Parler was deleting extremist posts inciting violence at the same rate as Facebook and Twitter, there would be the same volume of complaints from those who considered themselves censored. Instead, there are floods of complaints about the MSM, but nothing but praise for Parler. That tells us that they aren’t deleting very much.
That said, what Apple is saying is “at least make a good-faith effort to moderate content.” Parler is saying “we won’t do any.” Different but only by a little.
Not True.
parler has an enforcement policy to removal illegal content. Show us the illegal content.
What parler dose not do is use AI to monitor and flag “unacceptable” content based on keywords via editorial decisions
To understand why the establishment is trying to remove President Trump, look no further than what President Trump did with prescription drugs, dramatically lowering prices for American citizens.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-delivering-lower-prescription-drug-prices-americans/
That sort of thing simply cannot stand. Large sums of money are involved and the swamp is powered by money generated from running roughshod over American citizens in every way possible.
President Trump was accountable to no donor class, hence he had to be removed from office by whatever means possible. If it took the mass-mailing of blank ballots without maintaining any chain of custody, unapproved by state legislatures unconstitutionally, resulting in fraudulent election results, so be it.
Downvote away, those who cannot handle the truth!
So now MDN is going to lecture us on the 1st Amendment. lol, going downhill quickly.
I would reply, but I am not sure what I am allowed to say on MDN any more. It would be nice to have clear published guidelines and an avenue of appeal like Apple provides for App Store denials. However, this is MDN’s site and they can apply whatever policies they like, because that is the way the First Amendment works. Nobody is required to help me get my message out if they disagree with it.
I wonder how Obama and the gang plan to get rid of OBiden.
I would rather he die of natural causes…like covid, wouldn’t it be ironic with the way he wears two masks and won’t let anyone within 100 feet of him.
People should attend his funeral sitting in their cars and honk when it’s over, maybe throw their masks on his grave.
Oh sorry, was just dreaming and didn’t realize I was typing…🤭
They will just arkancide him, just like the others that they didn’t like. He was just a tool to get the slut in office since it was obvious that even libturds would not vote for her.
Good God, you people are all paranoid and in need of medication and counseling not to mention an education in modern civics. Move to South America with the rest of the former nazi’s and confederates.
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
I love you mom.
Let’s not forget what we’re talking about here:
– PLANNING murder… whether to kill Pence, Roberts or Pelosi first.
– Armed invasion of the seat of government
– Bombs, multiple weapons, zip ties for hostages
– Two police officers killed
And have you watched the videos? The way some people were beaten by those MAGA thugs, it’s amazing more didn’t die.
And then, afterwards, many of the whiny little bitches not even having the courage of their convictions… trying to portray “misjudgment” or “getting carried away at the moment”.
Or, one step further, blaming the actions they took while there on a completely unrelated group of people. If only they hadn’t been so proud of what they were doing at the time, there might be folks that believe it was Antifa.
Who am I kidding, their entire worldview hinges on all bad things being done by people that are “not like me”. So they can’t possibly accept the fact that it was Trump supporters (even with all of the social media posts going back YEARS confirming that these were no BLM sympathizers) that did this. So, no matter how many conservatives are outed, lose their jobs, lose their business partnerships, etc, they will still all believe that Antifa made them do it. And other conservatives, understanding that no conservatives should EVER deal with the consequences of any action, will believe them.
The rush by the cultists to erase their online Capital selfies and trash their web presence is just so funny.
Having no social media mouthpiece must really really hurt too.
But the icing on the cake…
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2021/01/10/donald-trump-bedminster-loses-2022-pga-championship/amp/
Can you share how Parler was used to “plan murder” Was the post a Mega bigots spouting off or was the post(s) specific information that was used to commit a crime? It’s important to be factual. We need to raise above low resolution unspecific claims.
We can find wackos on both sides but sane people in the middle need to hold the line for the principle of freedom of speech. We should not tread lightly the shoe could easily be on the other foot.
I think this is a legit move by Parler, and I hope they are successful. I recently posted that Google and Apple were protecting themselves from liability by removing Parler, but I think this move by Amazon is outside that justification. I do not believe that Amazon could be held liable for an app built on its web services.
This also highlights the possible dangers of the subscription / Licensing business model, and shows that efforts must be made to encourage open-source alternatives.
Although I frequently hear about the dangers of of Fascists and Communists on this site, this looks more like a cautionary tale of the power and influence of the ultra-wealthy. “That’s a nice app you’ve got there, be a same if something happened to it….”